Love Knows No Boundaries
by somXcor
Summary: Follows most of the Twilight plot with one HUGE difference: Bella is a werewolf, too. By nature she is meant to be with Jacob and sworn enemies to Edward, but true love can overcome all things. Right? Please read! Better than the summary, I swear!


**A/N: I am not really good with chapter separation. I write until I feel like stopping, so I'll just post it as I write it. Sometimes you'll get short chapters, sometimes long. Please just bare with me. Here's a really long section to get you started. Yes I changed characters. It's not my lack of Twilight knowledge, it's just what I wanted to do. :)**

The alarm clock by my bed sounded off at exactly 6am, and I ignored it as usual. I slammed the snooze button in irritation and rolled back over, attempting to remember where I was in the delightful dream I was having. Oh yes, my favorite celebrity actor was just about to—

Suddenly my phone started ringing and buzzing loudly on the nightstand beside my face. Drowsily, and even more irritated, I grabbed it and answered. I already knew who would be calling at this ungodly hour.

"Wake up, _loca_. It's our first day of school! We can't be late!" My oldest and best friend, Jacob Black reminded me that summer was officially over.

"Ugh, why me?"

"Get up, get dressed! I am walking to your house now."

I groaned once more and hung up. Yawning, I forced my feet to the ground and got out of my nice, warm bed. I yanked on my favorite pair of jeans and a green sweater. Without bothering to check the weather outside, I pulled my rain boots and jacket on and walked downstairs. It wasn't hard to guess, since we lived in the wettest place in the continental US.

"Good morning, Bella" my dad said as he, too geared up for a rainy day.

"Why haven't you left yet?" I asked, as he was usually long gone by this time.

"Just wanted to see you off on your first day of school", he said, much to my surprise.

My father was almost never open about his emotions. He'd raised me alone my entire life and still wasn't completely sure of how to deal with a daughter, especially a teenage one. I've seen my mom for two weeks every summer since I can remember. I love spending time with her, but it's definitely a vacation. Not a permanent home.

Forks, Washington is my home. My father, Charlie Young, is a full blooded Quileute Native American. My mom is Irish, go figure, so that makes me a mutt. She thought she could give it all up to marry my father and live in this place, but it didn't last very long. My father begged my mom for custody and my mom didn't need the convincing. She's a wild one, much too immature for her age. She's more like a girl friend than a mother, and I've accepted her for who she is.

"Hey you!" Jake said as he ran up and hugged me. I laughed at his excitement.

"I just saw you yesterday. Not even 24 hours ago. Why are you hugging me?"

"Just nerves I guess. That and the 3 cups of coffee I drank. Couldn't sleep a wink last night, so I just stayed up and studied my schedule!"

Last year, and every year before, we have attended the small school on the reservation where we live. La Push Tribal School, or LPTS, only goes up to the tenth grade. Once we reach our junior year, we switch to Forks High School, where all of the rest of the kids in Forks attend. It's a pretty exciting switch and I would be lying if I didn't say I was nervous. I just would never say it out loud.

"Whatever, get in."

We hopped into my father's old truck and started the thirty-minute ride to school. I could feel the excitement resonating off of Jacob the whole way, and eventually I was overcome by it. We were laughing and joking the whole way and my nerves were calmed. Until I saw them.

"Wow, get a load of these kids. Is FHS making a commercial I didn't know about?"

I looked over at the kids he was referring to. They didn't look much like kids at all. Half of them could be college students. One of them could be a pro-wrestler. All of them could be super models.

There were two girls. One of them was short and petite, with dark pixie-like hair. The other was taller, and blonde, like a Greek goddess. The prettiest girl I'd ever seen. The three boys were each unique as well. One was big and burly and very intimidating. He had short, dark hair and his arm around the blonde girl confused me. Another had blonde hair. He was tall and muscular, though not nearly as bulky as the first. And the last one, standing just a little apart from the others, had bronze hair and pitch black eyes. He looked younger than the others and leaner. They were all pale and looked as though they didn't get enough sleep. But this wasn't a flaw. In fact, it made them look more like artwork, like beautiful, perfect sculptures than real people. My eyes remained on the last one, as if they were glued there.

Quil and Embry, two of our friends from the rez, ran over to the truck and began babbling about their schedules. They were older than us and had already attended the school for a year.

"Who are they?" I interrupted and they followed my eyes.

"The new kids." Embry stated, implying he didn't know much else about them.

"I heard they're from Alaska. They are all adopted and they live with this young doctor and his wife somewhere outside of town. My mom said he started yesterday and she blushed every time she talked about him. Really pissed my dad off. Guess they're all good-looking." Quil explained. His mom is a nurse at the local hospital, so I figure that's where he got his info.

"Let's get to class. My hair is getting frizzy." I changed the subject as if I didn't care about these strangers.

As we passed them, the bronze-haired boy met my eyes and I quickly turned my head toward my friends. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I felt him staring the whole way into the school. Though why a beautiful boy like that would be curious about me, I'm not sure.

As we trudged through the unfamiliar halls, Jacob and I selected two lockers that hadn't yet been claimed. They were side by side, so we would be able to see each other throughout the day, despite our differing schedules. I removed my jacket and tossed it into my locker and then shut it. My phone began buzzing in my pocket, so I pulled it out.

**TEXT MESSAGE FROM SAM: DO ME A FAVOR PLS. GO 2 OFFICE AFTER SCHOOL N GET MY HMWRK. NOT FEELING GOOD, STAYIN HOME. THX.**

"That's weird. Sam just texted me. He said he's not feeling good and he's staying home. On his first day."

"Wow. He must be really sick if he's missing his first day of senior year." Jake said as he shut his locker door.

"Yeah, well I guess I'll see you after class?"

"Yep, see ya."

Jacob and I parted ways to find our first classes. As I approached the door to classroom A9, I checked my schedule to make sure I was in the right place.

"A9, Biology. Check." I told myself.

I walked in and instantly lost my breath. There he was. Sitting in the back of the room, at a lab table all by himself was Bronze Super Model Boy. Oh dear. I continued walking with intent to sit at a table catty-corner to his, where I could stare from a safe difference. As I went to set my notebook on that table, another girl snagged the seat first.

"Seat's taken," she rudely pointed out and knocked my notebook to the ground.

"Bit-"

As I started toward her, to get in her face, he was suddenly beside me. The look he gave her was more frightening than anything I could have said to her, and the girl froze in fear. I did, too.

"Here you go." He handed me my notebook and quickly moved back to his seat.

By now, the entire class was staring at our little predicament in the back of the room. The teacher walked through the door and asked me to take my seat, and I realized the only one left was beside him. Nervously, I took the seat and tried not to stare. I slapped my notebook onto the table and the motion of it blew my hair back.

"Thanks," I turned toward him, but couldn't say anything more. He was glaring at me, with more anger in his eyes than he had for the rude girl just a minute before.

I turned away from him, unsure of what had happened. Had I stepped on his foot when I sat down? I didn't think I had. Maybe he wanted to sit alone. I looked at him again to be sure I hadn't imagined it, but there he was. Sitting as far away from me without being at another table, his hands were gripping the edge of his stool with such force that his already pale hands were even whiter than the rest of him. He was facing forward but still with a face of disgust and hatred.

"What the heck?" I asked, now angry at his rudeness.

"Excuse me?" he growled. He actually _growled _at me.

"Never mind."

The rest of the class was torturous. The look on his face never changed and he never relaxed an inch of his body. The teacher went over the course curriculum and passed out books. He mentioned that every seat was filled, so he wouldn't bother taking roll today. Tomorrow we'd be introducing ourselves. _Great. _Even homework assigned on the first day didn't annoy me as much as pretty boy's behavior. As soon as the bell rang, I looked over to him. He was already out of his chair, carrying his books toward the door. I slowly stood up and grabbed mine and headed for the door.

When I got to my locker, Jake was already waiting for me, my locker door open.

"How did you figure out my combination?" I asked, temporarily distracted from Bronze DEATH GLARE Super Model Boy.

"It wasn't difficult. It's the same as your voicemail password. Your birthday. 10, 5, 88."

"Great, now you're a stalker."

"I just know you better than you know yourself. How was class?"

"Interesting to say the least."

"To say the least, indeed. Care to elaborate?"

"Later. What class do you have next?"

"Gym."

"Good luck with that. I have Calculus. Murder me now."

"Then we have English together! Yay!"

"Good, I need a friendly face in at least one of my classes."

"If by friendly you mean beautiful, then my face will be there."

I laughed at his joke and dropped my Bio book into my locker. I shut it, smiled at him and walked away. The whole way to math I couldn't decide whether I was wishing pretty boy _wouldn't _be there or if I wished he _would._

I didn't have to wonder for long because I arrived at my class a little late. Apparently I hadn't walked to my class fast enough and I arrived last. My teacher threw out a comment regarding being late, but she said she would make an exception because it was the first day. I didn't pay much attention to her as I did a quick scan of the room to look for his face. He wasn't there, so I took a seat near the front.

"We're going to introduce ourselves today." The teacher told us, and several groans came from behind me. "To make it a little more interesting, I want you to pair up and get to know each other while I pass out your course materials. When I'm done, you will introduce your partner to the class. Tell us their name, favorite subject and one interesting fact."

"Wanna be partners?" I looked at the boy next to be and it took a minute to realize he had spoken to me.

"Me?" I asked, just to be sure.

"Yes you." He laughed at me and opened his notebook to write my info down.

"Sure." I did the same.

"Are you shy?" He asked, noticing I hadn't said much.

"No, actually I'm not. I'm just a little distracted today. Sorry. Uh, my name is Bella Young."

"Nice to meet you Bella, I'm Mike. Mike Welch."

"Well hello Mike," I said, as I scribbled his name into my notebook. "What's your favorite subject?"

"Not this one, that's for sure."

"Oh gosh, mine either. Math is terrible. Our _teacher_ seems terrible."

"She's my mom." He laughed as he wrote something down I couldn't see.

"Wow, really? Ouch. Sorry."

"I'm just messing with you Bella. You must be new this year, I thought everyone knew Mrs. Talbot was the wicked witch of Forks."

"Yes, I'm new. To FHS anyways. I live on La Push."

"Wow, the Indian Rez? Sweet. You don't really _look_ Native American though."

"I'm half. My mom is white, and I got her looks unfortunately."

"It's not unfortunate. You're hot."

"Thanks. So anyways, my favorite subject is English. And I guess my interesting fact would be that I raise wolves." I didn't dwell on his compliment too much. Mike was a good-looking boy but he just didn't peak my interest. I was sort of a tomboy and a boy with a nice face wasn't enough to keep my attention. Unless you looked like a Greek god, of course, but let's not go there.

"Raise wolves, huh? What's that about?"

"It's a tradition. Quileutes are supposedly descendant from wolves, so we take care of them like they are family. I have five of them."

"Do they live in your house?"

"One of them does, Lucy. She's just a pup though. When she gets big enough, we'll introduce her to the pack. They live in a barn behind my house. My dad uses them as hunting dogs sometimes, but mostly they're just like outside pets.

"Well that is pretty interesting. My favorite subject is gym, and I'm the quarterback for the football team here. Go Spartans."

"Uh yeah, yay Spartans."

I wrote his facts down and didn't say anything else until it was time to introduce each other. I read his info from my paper when it was my turn and didn't care much when people looked at me as Mike read about my "wolf fetish" as he called it. I was used to it. I didn't look Quileute but I wasn't pale enough to be a white girl from Forks, land of the overcast. It always surprises people that I live on the rez and raise wolves, but I like my life, and I don't care what they think.

Second period came and went, and I didn't bother to go to my locker afterwards. I met up with Jake at English and we grabbed seats beside each other. The teacher, Mr. James told us to talk quietly amongst ourselves as he went to the supply closet to get more books. I'd almost repressed all of the memories I had of Bronze Boy until Jacob interrupted my story about Mike to point him out.

"What? He's here?" I asked Jake as he described him.

"Uhh yeah, and boy is he giving you the worst look ever. Like he wants to kill you, actually."

I looked over at him and sure enough, there was that same look on his face, like I ran over his cat. Or his mother or something.

"Yeah, I don't know what his problem is. I had Bio with him and he stuck up for me when this blonde girl thought she could push me around."

"_He _stuck up for _you_?"

"Well, it's not like I needed him to. He just got to her before I could. Anyway, I sit beside him and when I tried to thank him, he started giving me that very look. That look never left his face the entire time we were in class. It's weird. I didn't even _do_ anything to him."

"Well it looks like he really hates you. He may even hate me for associating with you because now he's looking at me."

I looked up from my notebook and over at him. He was looking at Jake, though with more of a curious face, instead of an angry one. The teacher came back in and started talking, so I looked back toward the front of the room. As Mr. James began roll call, I listened carefully to see which name he responded to.

"Edward Cullen?" Mr. James asked.

"Here."

So that was it. Edward? What a plain name for someone so beautiful. I noticed he didn't correct Mr. James. I wondered if he went by Eddie or Ed and was just too shy to say anything? I'd _die _if my teachers continued to call me Isabella, as the roster told them to. I always made sure to tell them my nickname, and I always made sure they wrote it down.

"Lunch is next." Jake reminded me, as we walked together to our lockers.

I nodded and put both of my new textbooks in, arranging them in order by period. We shut our lockers and headed toward the cafeteria. Simultaneously, I noticed two tables. The Cullens sat at a table to my immediate right, all five of them sitting with trays of untouched food in front of them. All of them looking right at me. And in the back left corner sat four of my friends from the rez: Quil and Embry and the Call twins, Paul and Jared. I rushed over to my friends' table and sat in a seat facing away from the Cullens.

"Wow, he is _still _staring at you." Jacob told me, and I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yes, Edward seems to hate me for no reason," I informed the rest of the table, and they all looked over at him.

"Well that's weird. You guys eating today?" Paul asked Jake and I as he stood up to get in line with Embry and Quil.

"I'll go up there, too." Jake said and he stood up as well.

"Can you just get me a banana and a water?" I asked them, suddenly losing my appetite.

"Yeah, sure." Jake said, and they all left me at a table alone.

I forced myself not to turn around and look at them, despite my urge to do just that. In fact, the more I thought about his eyes burning holes into the back of my head, the more I talked myself into confronting him. Finally, I decided that if I had any more classes with him, I would give him a piece of my mind. What the hell was his problem anyways?

My friends were back at my side shortly and Jake placed my banana and water in front of me. I thanked him and tried to forget about Edward and his family long enough to enjoy the company of my childhood friends. We talked about Sam's random illness, which reminded me that I had to stop by the office on my way out to get his work. We discussed classes, and I warned Paul and Jared about evil Mrs. Talbot, as they both had her class next. I fretted about gym, as I am the least athletic person in the world, but Jacob calmed me by telling me that basketball wouldn't begin until tomorrow.

"You'd think a tomboy like you would be better at things like sports." Quil poked fun at me.

"I like to _watch _sports. Not _play _them. Besides, I could rebuild an engine with my eyes closed and you know it."

"I know more about cars than you." Quil argued.

"No you don't," Jacob stood up for me. "The only person that knows more about cars than Bella is me."

We all began to argue about our knowledge of cars and engines and whatnot in our usual ways. These were my brothers and we specialized in sibling rivalry. When lunch was over, I headed to my history class. Just this and gym and then I could get home to Lucy and my warm bed.

As soon as I was sure Edward wasn't in my class, I relaxed and started to doodle in my notebook. I shared this class with Embry, but we didn't speak much because he'd confessed his crush on me over the summer. It made for quite the awkward situation among us, and our gang had started to notice as well. I tried to break the silence once or twice, but he hadn't given me more than one or two word answers.

Our families had tried to push Embry and I together since we were little. Quileutes are infamous for marrying within tribes, as most Native Americans used to do. My dad was one very huge exception, and I found myself believing I'd be one too. I didn't want to get married at all, not even outside of the Native American race. Embry took it personally, and so did his parents, but my dad never pushed the issue after that. I am only 16, and he is still a father not wanting to let his baby go. He'd rather me not get married and stay with him at La Push than marry someone else and run off the way my mother had done to him.

Once History was over, I told Embry I'd see him later in the evening. Our parents had called an emergency elders' meeting for tonight, and all of us teenagers gathered at the Ateara household to watch the little ones whenever these situations arose. He nodded at me, and I trudged off to gym. I stopped at my locker to grab my jacket so because the gym wasn't connected to the rest of the school. I threw my history book in and pulled my Bio book out to put it in my backpack so I wouldn't have to come back inside later.

When I got to the gym, our teacher, Coach Smith, told us we didn't have to change out until tomorrow. We sat on the bleachers and listened as he called roll and went over our schedule. I groaned as he mentioned the various sports I'd have to participate in and started to send Jake texts from inside my jacket pocket where Coach Smith couldn't see.

**TEXT TO JAKE: HEY DON'T FORGET I HAV 2 STOP OFFICE AFTER CLASS TO GET SAMS HMRK. GRAB MY KEYS OUT OF MY LKR N MEET ME THE TRUCK.**

**TEXT FROM JAKE: K.**

After gym, I headed for the school office, though it took me a minute to find. When I walked in, I felt myself choke on my breath. There was Edward, standing with his back to me, talking to the office lady.

"Yes, first period Biology and third period English." He told her firmly.

I couldn't help but notice those were the classes we shared, though I'm not sure what he was telling her. I took a few steps closer, hoping to hear what he was telling her, but I saw him go rigid and knew he had noticed. He flung his head around to give me the evil glare, and I looked at the lady to see her reaction. She looked confused, so I guess she didn't understand his hatred for me either. He turned back to look at her.

"Anything?" He tried to remain polite, but there was a fierce edge in his voice that didn't go unnoticed.

"I'm sorry my dear. I understand you are a new student and we want to make your time here at Forks High as comfortable as possible. But we are quite overcrowded this year due to a large number of kids coming here from La Push reservation. If any of your other choices gets an opening any time soon, I'd be happy to let you switch."

"That would be greatly appreciated."

He turned and walked past me without meeting my eyes. The office lady wrote something down on a post-it and stuck it to her desk before glancing up at me.

"How can I help you dear?" She asked me politely.

I picked up Sam's work and hurried through the rain to my truck. As planned, Jake was already inside. Most of the parking lot was cleared, and I glanced down the way to see if I spotted any of the Cullens.

"He already left." Jake told me, as though he'd read my mind.

"Good. I wouldn't want them running me off the road or anything. Did you happen to notice what kind of car they drive?"

"Yeah a silver Volvo. He was the driver, too, so you're right. He just _might _have run us off the road. What a freak."

"Speaking of freaks." I saw Mike walking toward us, and I hoped he wasn't going to stop. But of course, he did.

"Hey," I said, as I rolled down the window to see what he wanted.

"Hey, a bunch of us are going to the movies tonight to celebrate the end of our first day. Just wanted to see if you wanted to join."

I felt Jacob fidget beside me; most likely hoping Mike would notice him and leave. Mike was too persistent though and it wasn't so easy to get rid of him.

"Thanks, but I have to get home. I'm babysitting tonight."

"_We're _babysitting tonight." Jacob corrected.

"Yeah." I agreed, feeling awkward about what seemed to be happening around me. Both boys seemed to push out their chest as if I was something they were fighting over.

"You didn't tell me you had a little brother," Mike smiled mischievously and nodded toward Jacob.

"I'm not her brother." Jacob said with his teeth clenched.

"Oh, sorry. Mike this is Jacob, Jacob this is Mike. Jacob is my best friend. He lives right beside me."

"Best friend, huh? I can live with that. Maybe some other time then?" Mike laughed and walked away without letting me answer.

I shook my head and rolled my window back up. I put the key in the ignition and started the car without another word. About half way between school and home, Jacob broke the silence.

"So I guess you have a new fan?"

"What?" I asked, though I knew he was talking about Mike.

"What's with Mr. Football star?"

"I don't know. We have a class together. He's very annoying and arrogant, as you can tell, and I didn't know he was interested in me."

"You could have told him I was your boyfriend you know."

"But you're not." I said, confused.

"I know that. But he doesn't. He would have left you alone."

"Somehow I doubt that. But anyways, then word would have gotten around that we were an item."

"So? It's not like you wanna start dating anyone anyways."

"Yeah." I tried to concentrate on the road, but I couldn't help but feel awkward about the conversation. Did Jake like me? No way. "But then if you wanted to start dating a girl, we'd have to like break up or something. And I'm sure she wouldn't understand your ex-girlfriend becoming your best friend."

"I don't think I'll be dating anyone anytime soon."

"Why not? You're good-looking." Instantly I was unsure about my choice of words. I'd always thought Jacob was sort of beautiful, but telling him was a completely different story. I didn't want to cross that line of friendship until I was 100% sure I loved Jake in that way.

"I am?"

"Uh yeah. But anyways, that would have definitely sent poor Embry over the edge and he might never forgive me. History was so awkward today."

Jake understood I was changing the subject and he didn't push it any further. He joked with me about all of the boys at Forks liking me and he called me "terminally untouchable".

"Everyone but Edward." I corrected him, which sent him in hysterical laughter as he recalled the crazy behavior he'd witnessed.

When we got back onto the rez, I stopped by Sam's house first. His father answered and thanked me as he took the homework out of my hands. I asked if we could see Sam, but his father informed me of his contagion. Sam apparently had a very bad case of mono and possibly even the flu, and Jake and I backed away quickly at the idea. We had both had the flu last winter and had to eat chicken soup and drink ginger ale in my bed every day for two weeks. We were both wimps when it came to being sick.

When we got to Quil's house, the rest of the rez kids and teens were already there. We got the children entertained with board games, television and coloring books, and Leah Clearwater, a freshman still at LPTS, stayed with them. The rest of us gathered in Quil's room to joke and gossip as old friends do.

We talked about school and cars and food and our other usual topics, but I found my attention was on other things. I couldn't help but think of Edward and his bizarre behavior. I went over in my head the things I would say to him tomorrow in Biology. I'd never let anyone treat me badly, and especially for no reason!

When the night was over, I let Jacob drive my truck over to our houses. He got his license when I got mine, but his dad didn't have a car. Billy Black had been in a car accident the year before that left him paralyzed from the waist down and his car totaled. My dad Charlie worked off the rez as Forks police Chief, and he always drove his cruiser. When I got my license, Charlie gave me the truck he'd bought for my mom when they got married. It wasn't spectacular but it ran.

"Hey, can I spend the night?" Jacob asked when we pulled into my driveway.

"On a school night?"

"Uh, yeah? It hasn't ever been a problem before. Besides, if I have to ride with you everyday, I wanna make sure you're up on time."

"Um, not tonight, okay? Sorry. I have to do my Bio homework and then I'm crashing hard. But I promise to be up on time tomorrow. And you can spend the night with me tomorrow night. We'll rent Romeo & Juliet so we don't actually have to read the book for English."

"Ok." Jacob smiled, though I could see a hint of confusion in his eyes. I'd never turned him down when he asked to spend the night, but he didn't seem hurt at all.

I just wasn't in the mood for company. I wanted to ponder Edward's crazy behavior while I completed my homework. And Mike's behavior too, for that matter. I'd lived in Forks my entire life and only now did the boys start paying attention to me. Embry, Mike, Jacob? Did I get pretty overnight or something? When my homework was done, I told my dad good night and then climbed into my bed.

I didn't sleep a wink. I tossed and turned with the image of Edward's beautiful but angry face burned into my brain. By the time 5am rolled around, I couldn't stand it anymore. I jumped in the shower and decided to actually _do _my hair. I pulled a box out of my closet. My mother had sent me very girly presents every year for birthdays and Christmas, and every year I threw them into this box. Today I felt oddly interested in using them, though I wasn't completely sure why.

The end product shocked even me. My hair was completely straight, not frizzy as it naturally was. I evened out my tan skin with some foundation and added a bit of blush for color. My green eyes stood out once I'd applied some eyeliner and mascara, though it had taken me eight times and three wet wipes to get it right. I even pulled on a pink top with flower embellishments around the color and put it on over some designer jeans. I didn't recognize myself. I was about ready to rip it all of when I heard a knock on my door.

"Who is it?" I called through the door.

"Jake. Come on Bella, you said you'd be on time."

"Crap, is it time already? I need to change my clothes."

"Why?" He asked, and opened my door.

"Hey, I could have been naked!" I protested, but the damage was done.

"Wow."

"Wow? Like good wow or bad wow?"

"Uhh, just wow."

"Oh God, I'm changing." I rushed over to my closet but he stopped me.

"No, no, no. Good wow. It's a good wow. I've just never seen you like this. I didn't even know you _owned _anything pink. And makeup?"

"My mom sent it to me. You know, all of her presents?"

"The ones you tell me are pointless garbage?"

"Yeah, well I always keep them for when I go visit her."

"And are you practicing your visits or something?"

"No, I just thought I'd try something new. I said I could change."

"Nope, we don't have time, let's go," He laughed now, still shocked, and grabbed me by the arm.

Only last minute did I realize that I didn't have any appropriate shoes for this outfit. I still slipped on my black rain boots and jacket and hopped into the truck. I let Jake drive again today and he kept glancing over at me and smiling. I kept my mouth shut, though it was making me uncomfortable, and by the time we got to school I was fuming with anger.

I stomped into the school without speaking to any of our friends and Jacob just continued to laugh at me the whole way. He did stop at Paul's car, and I was happy to go to my locker alone. I put my jacket in and slammed the door shut. My heart started racing when I got to Biology, but to my surprise Edward wasn't there. I sat still in my seat as our teacher lectured, waiting for him to enter that door any second, but he never did.

Shockingly, I was happy Mrs. Talbot was a tyrant today because we weren't allowed to speak at all while she lectured. This kept Mike from talking to me, but didn't keep him from staring. I took notes absentmindedly and rushed out as soon as the bell rang. I'd forgiven Jake by then and we walked together from our lockers to English. Two students I didn't remember were chosen at random to read lines from a chapter in R&J, so Jake decided to nod off. Edward wasn't there, and again I sat staring at the door.

When we got to lunch, I immediately looked at their table. Only four beautiful people sat at their table today, and none of them were Edward. Also, none of them were staring at me.

I fell into the same chair at the same table as the day before as the boys went to get our lunch. As I sat alone, waiting for them, Mike strolled over and sat beside me with his lunch.

"Hello, Bella. I didn't get a chance earlier to tell you that you are looking particularly smoking hot today."

"Um, thanks Mike. Do you intend to join our table for lunch today?"

"Sure, as long as your friends don't mind."

"We do." It was Jared who had spoken up, and I assumed Jake had briefed them all on Mike's behavior the day before. Embry glared at Mike with almost as much hatred as Edward's signature glare.

"Ok then," Mike tried to play cool, but I could tell he was intimidated by our numbers. "Maybe you can join our table sometime?"

"Uh, maybe." I said, and Mike nodded at me as he walked away.

Jacob put a tray of food in front of me, but I didn't particularly feel much like eating. I picked at each dish as the boys started talking about anything other than Mike.

"So, Bella." Quil tried to get my attention. "Earth to Bella?"

"Huh? What?" I snapped my attention back to the present and met Quil's eyes.

"What's with the outfit? Your washing machine broke or something?"

"Haha. Can't a girl dress like a girl for once?" Jake sort of stood up for me and sort of poked fun.

"Maybe I just felt like wearing this ok?" I dismissed the subject immediately, and none of them dared discuss it further.

No one spoke about my outfit for the rest of the day. I dressed up every day like that for the entire week, but it was in vain. He never showed.

A lot happened in those next few weeks. Sam decided never to come back to school, but started being home schooled instead. We saw him from time to time on the rez, but he began attending the elders' meetings instead of hanging around the Ateara house like the rest of us. He quick speaking to us for a while, and then began texting Paul. He, too, mysteriously disappeared, but Jared said he wasn't really sick. He'd moved into a cabin out in the woods somewhere on the outskirts of the reservation with Sam. Jared was seriously depressed about the distance of his twin but not a week later and he was gone, too. I was worried about my friends, but my thoughts never strayed far from Edward Cullen.

A month passed before I saw _him_ again. I parked my truck in my usual spot, as far away from Mike Welch and his gang of jocks as possible. He had continued to invite me out and to sit with them, but I always dodged his requests. On the bright side, seeing me turn down other guys helped ease Embry back into a comfortable friendship and it seemed I was almost completely forgiven.

"Edward's back," I heard Jacob say as I leaned into the bed of my truck to find my umbrella. It was raining particularly hard today and my hair was getting drenched, despite the efforts of my raincoat.

"WHAT?" I almost fell in as I tried to look up.

Sure enough, there he was. He was looking around the lot as if he was searching for someone and then our eyes connected. There was no anger apparent on his face, just a crooked smile that reached his eyes. I looked to see if there was someone behind me he would be smiling at, but when I looked back at him he was laughing. And walking towards me. I could feel Jacob tense up as if he were preparing to protect me.

"Don't." I whispered, and he looked at me in confusion.

"Hello, Bella." Edward said and he stopped in front of me. I couldn't help but notice he was farther away from me than necessary for casual conversation. Maybe he thought I was afraid of him after last month's psychotic behavior?

"Um, hello," was all I could manage.

"I was wondering if you might let me escort you to class? I've been meaning to speak to you." Meaning to speak with me? He's been _gone _a month now. What could he possibly have to say?

"Ok...sure."

Jake glanced at me, clearly believing I was suicidal. He'd seen Edward's resentment towards me, and he didn't trust this sudden change of heart on Edward's part. I didn't really understand it either, but something about his voice gave me no choice in the matter.

"I want to apologize for my behavior before."

"Ok." I let that set a minute, but I could see he wasn't meaning to explain any further. "Where have you been?"

"On a vacation. My parents take us away a lot; we love to travel. When we go, my mother Esme home schools us. It will happen again throughout the year."

"Nice." I felt my heart fall into my stomach as he mentioned leaving again. I wasn't sure why, but the thought of him not being near just...hurt.

"Indeed."

"So. Is that...is that everything?"

"Well, I suppose so. Unless you don't mind me asking you some things about yourself? I find myself curiously interested in getting to know you some more. I find you pretty hard to read."

"Like what?"

"Do you ever hang out with any girls?" He didn't ask in a sarcastic manner, he seemed genuinely perplexed about my group of friends.

"I'm not very girly myself, actually. I've grown up with all of these boys and they're all I've ever known. I get along with some of the older girls on La Push, but they like romantic movies and baking and most of them get married pretty young. I like cars and action movies. Things like that."

"Cars, huh? We have something in common." He chuckled and I found myself wondering if he were laughing at me. At the extreme differences between us.

He was beautiful, _beyond _beautiful. Other-worldly was more like it. And I was just average. He seemed smart and spoke as though he were from another time. The tags on his clothes hinted at designer names and mine were always covered in fur, despite my lint-rolling efforts.

"Well, my best friend Jacob and I rebuild them. Or we try to anyways. Neither of us has a job, so we rarely have the money for parts. Everything we get comes from the junk yard, but we enjoy tinkering anyways." I felt like I was rambling. The words were being pulled from my lips; I couldn't help but speak aloud my every thought.

"I don't really _tinker _per se, but I like really fast cars."

"Oh. Well, that's nice."

"How long have you lived at La Push?"

"How did you know I live out there? Most people can't tell I'm Quileute, well half. The green eyes and brown hair generally throws them off."

"I just assumed. All of the boys you hang out with." He tensed up, as if I made him uncomfortable.

We'd reached our table in Biology and sat down. I noticed he sat as far away as possible still and I wondered why that was. Our teacher began to lecture, but we whispered back and forth throughout the class. It seemed I'd told him every little detail about myself without learning anything about him. He told me the names of his brothers and sisters and about their family situation.

The blonde, Greek goddess was Rosalie Hale. She and the blonde boy, Jasper were twins; niece and nephew of his adoptive mother Esme. The big, burly guy is Emmett, and the beautiful fairy-like girl is Alice. Esme couldn't have children so she adopted Emmett, Alice and Edward. When her sister fell ill, she also took in Jasper and Rosalie. It was such an interesting story, but he didn't want to tell me anymore. He went right back to asking me questions about my mother, father and life in general.

When class was over, he walked with me to my locker. I was thankful, but surprised that Jacob wasn't there waiting for us. It was then, as we were standing face to face that I realized it: his eyes had changed. Instead of that deep, mysterious black they were a light amber. Like honey and butterscotch. They were lovely and inviting.

"Did you get contacts?"

"No. Why?" He seemed caught off guard by my question.

"Last time I saw you your eyes were black. Now they're like topaz. It's such a drastic difference, I thought maybe you'd gotten contacts."

"It must be the lighting. I've got to get to class. See you later."

With that dismissal, he walked away. I stood there in shock for a minute—shocked that he had spoken to me for so long and shocked that one simple question had set him off. Bipolar much?


End file.
